Watch Me by Shelley Bradley Page A

and sent him a shaky nod that seared his guts with panic. After tonight, she was going to turn around and walk out of his life—unless he thought fast.
    “Is something wrong?” He gentled his expression. She looked away. “This is business. You’re doing what you need to do. So am I.”
    “Shanna, this is not merely a business dealing or ‘just sex’ to me. I want it to be more than that for you, too.”
    She shot him a deer-in-the-headlights stare. “Until Saturday, I have to focus on fixing my problem. You want me to dance for the joy of it, not for the trophy. I can’t be joyful if I already know before I dance a step that I won’t win.”
    Alejandro sighed. He’d hoped he’d gotten through to her during their ice cream date, at least in some small way. But he’d been deluding himself. She was determined to shut him out and focus on nothing but the prize.
    How the hell could he persuade her to stay with him after tonight, when she would only view him as a distraction, a speed bump slowing her race to winning?
    “Not to interrupt, kids,” Del said, “But you need to make your way back to the room so you can get started. Showtime is in eight minutes.”
    -87- Shelley Bradley
    Resisting the urge to rake a hand through his hair, Alejandro gnashed his teeth. He needed a minute to collect a few props and his thoughts.
    “Can you show her to the room?” he asked his business partner. “I’ll be there in five.”
    Alejandro didn’t wait for the answer. He brushed past them, into the security corridor, and let the door slam behind him. Dread and anger crashed into the bottom of his stomach. Unless he acted fast, this could well be his last chance with this woman. He had three minutes to figure out how to soften her heart toward him, convince her he wasn’t just out to save his business or get laid. Convince her they could be more than partners beyond tonight.
    Miracle, anyone?

    Del escorted Shanna through the club. She was aware of people all around her swaying and grinding to the jazzy/bluesy music. But her thoughts… Alejandro had the lock on those.
    Last night and today, he’d acted like he cared. Why? She’d told him over and over this was business.
    Yeah, did it feel like business when he was deep inside you, making you scream? Or when he fed you ice cream and did his best to understand you, to help you like a friend?
    The man had her so confused. What should have been nothing more than a temporary arrangement for the sake of ferreting out a mutual enemy—and okay, maybe a little mutual pleasure—had suddenly become very tangled. In the space of a few days, she’d come to think of Alejandro as a fixture in her life. The thought of that fixture being removed hurt. Dangerous. How could she focus on the competition with everything hanging over her head if she had to add new and scary emotions for Alejandro to the mix?
    -88- Sneak Peek: Watch Me
    “Follow me,” Del said.
    They crossed the dance floor and edged around a couple panting heatedly and letting their fingers do the walking. Del escorted Shanna into a long hallway. At the end, he held a door open. One peek inside, and she sucked in a surprised gasp. This was out of a fantasy! Plush, like a pasha’s palace. Rust, gold, bronze, with accents of black and crème. An enormous bed. Pillows everywhere. The audience would be bigger in this room. And closer. The opportunity for someone to bring in a camera was huge.
    “We’ve got the security angles covered,” Del assured her before she even opened her mouth. “There are cameras all over this place. We’ve spent all day rigging it up. If someone tries to film you here, we’ll nail him.”
    He eased closer. Shanna tensed. Truth be told, the man made her nervous. He was dark like Alejandro. Both men had a wide streak of bad boy. Alejandro was like a fire, hot and sometimes unpredictable, never quite tamed. But Del…he could be a very cool customer. He’d do everything on his terms, in his